Block printing



ne. 9, 1947; B. WYKES 2,432,364

BLCK PR1NT1NG- Filed June 26, 1942 2 sheets-sheet 1 www . 1942 2 Sheets-Sheet `2 ATTORNEY la.v wYKEs BLOCK PRINTING Filed June 26 E V m Q w o, Q v/ E o i- TL v MT! :& J |:l |In\U P l -L o o M @M ...Q5 mm1 mm w mm m NN. o O ml/ vm om. ,m o/ .Nmk o// @T w o am Patented Dec. 9, 1947 BLOCK PRINTING Bernard Wykes, Crayford, England, assignor to David Evans & Company Limited, Crayford,

England Application June 26, 1942, Serial No. 448,581 In Great Britain July 24, 1941 1 Claim. l The present invention relates to an improved method of and means for repeat block printing in any colour on cloth or other material. It is especially advantageous for printing silk or other v fabrics or the like flexible pieces b-y charging the block on which the pattern is raised in relief with colour by pressing it against a floating so called colour sieve on which is spread, e. g., with flat brush, colouring matter or mordant which is properly thickened to prevent it from spreading by capillary attraction beyond the limits of the pattern or design, the colour sieve, consisting of a diaphragm usually of felt or ne woolen cloth stretched in a frame, being placed, diaphragm downwards, within another frame which is covered at the bottom with a stretched piece of impermeable material such, as mackintosh or oiled calico or American cloth and which oats inserted in a so-called gum or swimming tub to give it elastic buoyancy. The colour sieve generally iits the gum r swimming tub pretty closely, and forms when in position a sort of elastic colour tray over the bottom of which the colour is spread evenly with the aid of a brush. The viscous contents oi the tub may be starch paste but is generally gum. The invention in its broadest aspect is not however confined to the use of such colour surface.

In carrying out such block printing by hand the printer preparatory to each printing impression, applies the face of the block on the diaphragm with a quick or decisive motion so as to take up the requisite quantity of colour evenly thereover, applies the charged block to the fabric or like, a length of which, drawn from a roll, is extended on a iiat table covered with a yielding surface such as one or more layers of a woolen printers blanket or felt tightly stretched to supply the elasticity necessary to give the block every chance of making a good impression on the cloth, and then strikes the back'of the block one or more blows centrally or marginally with the hand or With a wooden or lead mallet in order to transfer the impression fully to the fabric or like but without crushing. Generally the yielding surface is covered with American cloth to which the material to be printed is caused to adhere by ironing it down smoothly thereon with the aid of a suitable adhesive.

The blocks have pin points fixed in their corners by means of which they are adjusted to their positions upon the cloth so as to join with precision the different parts of a design comprising the repetition of one small pattern.

The operations of dipping the block to charge (ci. 10i-.316)

this with colour and transferring the impressions to the material so as to obtain an even spread of colour over and sharply defined outlines of the dierent impressions are ones requiring considerable dexterity and diligence. Jarring of the block when transferring the impression must be avoided if sharply dened outlines are to be realised.

Such block printing by hand although slow is still favoured for iine work and the object of the present invention is to emulate the line result of the aforesaid method of block printing by hand by block printing of a like or similar character carried out partly or wholly automatically, whereby production may be effected by less skilled or unskilled labour and/or the rate oi production may be increased.

According to the method of block printing by the present invention, the printing block, charged between impressions, makes successive impressions at different accurately located printing positions over the surface of the material by impact with the material, such impact being produced by the printing block falling each time through the same height by gravity on to the material whilst mechanically guided in its falling movements. In the preferred way of carrying out the method, the printing block falls down a vertical slide guide, which is accurately located with respect to the surface of the material to be printed, the guide and the block (raised from the material) being moved between impressions to the next printing position and again accurately located for printing.

According to the preferred way of carrying out the method also the said material is securely held on a xed support, since thereby accurate registering of the successive repeat printings can be more readily achieved. The material may however also be moved relatively to the printing block if accurate measures are adopted for registering the relative positions of the so moved material and of the printing block in its printing position.

It is contemplated that generally the printing block will be of such dimensions that a number of repeat printings will be made across the width of the material as well as along its length but the method and the apparatus to be described is applicable for use when a block is sulciently large to print over the whole Width of a material so that it is only necessary to make repeat printings along the length of the material.

The charging of the block between impressions may be effected by allowing the block to fall while Vaisance.

mechanically guided on to a block-charging surface.

In the improved block-printing apparatus according to this invention the printing block is mounted on the apparatus for guided movement to successive printing positions over the table to which the'material to be printed is secured, provision Vbeing made for accurately locating the printing block in the successive printing positions, the printing block being so mounted and con trollable that it may be released, in making .successive impressions by impact, for falling 'inov'ements at each impression through the sameheight on to the material whilst guided in such movements to make the impressions at the positions Yill) required by impact with the material under the action of gravity. I Y

The printing block and the charging supply are preferably mounted for movement together from one printing position to another and for fvrelative movement to enable the block to be "Ychlarg'ed :between impressions.

in such case a zcarriagerior the charging supply and the printing yblock may be movable in lone direction of the vIta'ble and the printing block movable onthe carriage Vat right angles vto that direction between the "charging supply and the printing position,

means being provided for accurately locating tioifi'oftravel of the carriage but preferably the M4lolo'clfr is accurately locatable at different printing `#positions vonthe carriage so that when the print- `-i`ng"bl'ock is not adapted in one impression to print over the whole width of the material, -a

llplurality of aligned impressions may be produced at successive positions of the carriage in a di- ""r`ec`tion at vright angles to the motion of the carv`Trage.

'The printing block and guide in which it is "vertically slide-guided and the supply of chargi'ngmaterial may be on the same carriage which Yis"movablealonggudeson the apparatus, means lbeing provided for locating the carriage at difvi''rnt positions so as to locate the 4printing block "'ir'in-e direction for printing, the guide and block VIVbeing movable' transversely at right angles to such direction along the guides on the carriage, and means being provided'for accurately locating Hthe .printing block in this transverse direction "and thereby completing the location of the block Imprinting, and the printing block and its guide i-may be movable to diierent accurately located I.positions along the guides on the carriage for Ymaking `a .plurality of impressions at each posi- `tion of the carriage, the block being movable back -tothe charging source vbetween impressions to A`take up anew charge.

'The mode of printing according to the inven- `tionfby allowing the block to fall by gravity and print by impact promotes the production of uni` ,-iformly sharply dened impressions and lends it- -f'self lto ease of regulation.

The same mode is 'preferably adopted for charging the block.

Su'ch'impact may be varied in different ways,

e.:"g.,`by lvaryingly weighting the block as here- V."inafte'r described or by varying the height of the'fall Vof `the block. n

The block should fall truly perpendicular so that the `whole 'printing surface or" the block 'homes-into Contact with the material at the same ti'me --and fthe shank of the block holder is an 4 accurate fit in its guide in the machine hereinafter described so as to ensure this.

In the form hereinafter described, we show a preferred way in which a lever serves to raise the block and means are provided for automatically holding the block in the raised position. If this lever is counter-poised by a weight adjustable along the lever the fall of the block can be appropriately varied by this means. The raised block may be released by a separate releasing device. The same rate of fall of the block Vfor printing as for charging will often be found suitable, but the relative rates may be varied, e. g., by displacing the weight along the lever.

The stops-which pre-locate the block and the carriage .may -be adjustable.

The lblock holder is preferably adjustable with reference to its shank in directions at right angles to one another.

The accompanying drawings illustrate by way of example, one form of apparatus according to this invention; Fig. l being a front and Fig. 2

'an end elevation of the machine and Fig. 3 a

detail view of the block raising and releasing mechanism. Fig, 4 shows a part of the blockholder with a small block secured thereto.

The block holder l is mounted for guided rise and fall in carrier 2 which is capable of movement to and from the swimming tub 3 and according to the size of the printing block to successive transverse repeat printing locations across the tabled under positioning stop control (hereinafter described) along a carriage 5 movable along the printing table to successive longitudinal repeat printing positions under suitable positioning stop control whereby the printing across the material may be repeated as often as necessary along the material. The tub is mounted on and moves with the carriage.

The carriage 5, extending the full width of the table, may be wheeled by rollers l along rails 8, see the right hand side of Fig. 2, or slidably guided as shown by slide 9 and guide rail Iii on the left ofthe drawing, or there may be on each side rollers 1 to'support the carriage and blocks 9 to locate the carriage laterally.

The carriage is shown with a pulley ll around which is wrapped a cable I2 anchored at each end of the machine, the pulley being on a spindle which has a hand wheel i3 so that when the wheel is turned the cable compels the carriage to 'travel along the table. Other mechanisms Yrnay be used, such as rack and pinion or ratchet and pawl devices for displacing the carriage.

dA series of iixed projections ifi are engageable by two Alevers i5, IE5 for locating the carriage in kdefinite position along the table and the carrier 2 is provided with a lever Il engageable with grooved collars i8 on shaft I8 ki'lxed to the carriage for locating the carrier along the carriage.

The block is raised by a lever 20 fulcrumed to the carrier through link 2l and pivoted to the shanlc22 of the block holder. To clip 23, which is 'clamped to the shank, and is guided along the upstanding guide 2t, is clamped a rod 25 having a depression 25 in its lower end. A locking lever 21 borne by the carrier frame carries a iulcrum spindle 28 provided with a facet 29 which allows th-e rod 25 to move up and down. The lever 2l has a weighted arm 3l which tends so to rotate Vthe spindle that when the depression reaches the spindle, thelatter turns into locking engagement therewith. This happens when the block has been raised to the required extent by the lever 2D. .A 'counter-clockwise part turn of the lever 21 brings the facet 29 again into a position in which the rod 25 and the block can fall.

The lever 29 has a counterweight 20a which is adjustable along the lever to vary the impact which the block makes with the material. may be more than one depression and the block arranged to be held at different heights. A second depression is shown in dotted outline at 26a.

The carrier 2 is provided with channels 32 slidably engaging guide bars 33 fixed to the carriage and it has a handle Bda by which it can be manually slid along such bars. After each impression, the block is raised by operating the lever 20 and the levers Il are released from the collars I3 so that the carrier 2 can be slid along its guide bars into a position (shown in dotted outline in Fig. 2) over the tub 3. The block is then released by actuating the locking lever 2l so that it falls perpendicularly down its slide-guide in the carrier 2 on to the charging surface to take up its charge by impact therewith. The block is then raised again to a locked position and is slid back to, and located by the levers I1 and collars lll at its nextposition for printing.

The upper end of the shank may have a Weight receiving cup or support 35a as shown. Weights 35h cf different magnitude may be placed in the cup to vary the impact which the block makes with the material.

For the purpose of accommodating different sized blocks, a frame-slide 34 capable of receiving the largest block is preferably provided adapted by spacing elements to have different smaller sized blocks mounted therein. Means such as screw adjustments may be provided for centering the blocks; particularly the smaller sized blocks in the frame slide. The latter may be slidable in a second slide or plate 35 Which is itself slidable at right angles to the frame slide in a guide formed by the top plate 36 which is attached to the disc 3l at the end of the shank. Fig. 4 shows a block it which is smaller than the recess di in the frame slide. The block is held centrally in the recess by spacing elements l2 pressed against each side of the block by screws 43.

The disc has a central circular boss which fits in a circular recess in the back of the top plate 36 and the two parts are bolted together, preferably one of the parts, e. g., the disc having arcuate elongated holes to receive the bolts and to permit of some relative rotation for adjustment. The intermediate plate 35 is ribbed to engage and slide along groove 38 in the top plate 36 and is bolted to such plate, one of the parts, e. g., the4 top plate having holes elongated in the direction of sliding to enable the parts to be set in different positions of adjustment. The frame 34 in turn is ribbed to engage and slide in groove 39 in the intermediate plate 35 and the latter has elongated holes so that the frame 34 can be bolted to it in different positions of adjustment, the frame being slidable at right angles to the direction in which the plate 35 is slidable.

The cloth material Will generally be elastically supported by the table, but the invention is applicable to paper, Cellophane, rubber, linoleum and other materials and in some cases the material itself may possess sufficient resilience not to require a yielding support.

The step and repeat motions of the carrier transversely of the table and of its carriage longitudinally of the table and the raising and dropping of the block may be all manually, or partly manually as shown, or automatically, eiected.

In the preferred mode of using the apparatus,

There the carrier with the block (a common size of the block is 10 inches square) is moved across the machine along the carriage step-by-step and the block is dropped on to the material fixed to the printing table the necessary number of times, and with the necessary impact, to cover the Width of the material to be printed, the position of the carrier being regulated by adjustable stops on the carriage so that each impression of the block joins With its neighbouring impressions with proper precision. After each printing the block is returned to the gum or swimming tub to be recharged with colour. The carriage is moved along to a new position after each transverse row of impressions has been made.

Generally between each printing the spreader or teerer will manually brush over the colour sieve, periodically applying an equable supply of additional colour or mordant as required.

Experiments have so far indicated that good "dipping and printing results are obtained with a drop of the block of one to six inches depending upon the character of the design, in general the finer the pattern the longer being the drop.

Skill and diligence are also required in applying and spreading the colour or mordant over the colour sieve because if not uniformly applied the block will take the colour up unequally.

The method and apparatus have particular advantages in respect of multi-colour printing. As will be appreciated when the method is used upon material which is securely held on a fixed support, a number of transverse and longitudinal repeat printings can be made in one colour and then the material can be overprinted successively with other colours, the colour of the preceding printing having suicient time to dry before the next colour can be applied. For example if there are, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, 5 transverse and 7 longitudinal printing positions the printing of one colour on 35 repeat positions enables sumcient time for that colour to dry in the earlier positions, so that another colour may immediately be applied to those earlier` positions. It is of course essential to progress in the same Way for each colour, for example, repeat transversely from positions i to 5 and step longitudinally to and then repeat transversely from 5 to lil and so on.

Printing of the several elements of coloured designs Will be effected similarly to that hereinbefore described.

I have described a form in which the carriage has devices co-operating with fixed stops, but the stops may be on the carriage and the lever or other movable device arranged on the table or machine frame.

I claim:

Apparatus for block-printing on silk or other fine fabric comprising a table for supporting the material, a printing block, a movable, vertically extending slide-guide therefor up which the block may be raised perpendicularly to the table and adapted to maintain the printing surface of the block in constant orientation or parallelism to the table surface, means for guiding said slideguide in movement to carry the block to different printing positions over the table, means for accurately locating said slide-guide in different printing positions, means on the slide-guide for raising the holder and block, means Afor releasing said holder and block for free falling movement down said slide-guide onto the material to make the impression by impact under the action of the gravity fall of the block, said block raising means having means to counterbalance the `8 'llame "Date a :Heilmann .f Oct.: .23, :1894 Dale. Dec. 29,1896 .rButtler June 15, '1897 Y fBroWn Mar.' 20, 1909 Wachsmundt 911111.,... Jan. `25, 1910 '.Svobod'a. Oct. 24, 1911 v Harms 'Man v9, 1920 FREIGN PATENTS Country Date vGreat:BritainY Apr. 16, f1937 

